Thanks to everyone who came to tonight’s safety training. It was a big success! For anyone who was not able to make it, you will have an opportunity to take the training at one of our first build season meetings.

Our next meetings are next week on Wednesday or Thursday from 7-8. These meetings are for parents/guardians/volunteers. Youth members are also encouraged to come. More details will be provided next week.

Currently we have 31 youth members signed up for our FRC team. We still have availability for more members to join so if you have friends that might be interested please refer them to me.

We are still looking for additional sponsors to support our team. If you have any contacts please speak with them or refer them to me. Remember, funds that you raise from sponsors can also benefit your youth member travel fund.

We still have one ticket available for the founders reception in NH on January 6th. If you are interested please contact me by tomorrow (Friday).

A few of us are going to jcpenney in Westerly tomorrow for a small demo with the robot. The demo will be at 530pm so if you are in the area or interested in coming please contact me and meet us there.

Also, I am still looking for support for a demo at the jcpenney in Westerly on this Friday evening. I am still working out the details and really would like to see more support from all of you. If anyone would like to come please contact me. Also, if any parents want to drive kids and/or have a truck with a cap or SUV that could transport the robot that would be really helpful.

We have just one more build meeting before the Pembroke competition. This meeting is on Monday November 28 from 6pm to 9pm in Building 80. Please note that the meeting previously scheduled on Wednesday 11/30 has been cancelled. On Thursday December 1 at 7:30 pm, coaches will pack up robots and accessories for competition. This follows the FRC meeting which most of you will be attending.

Finally, team 78A competed in an event in New Canaan, Connecticut this past weekend. The team went undefeated the entire day, seeded #1, and went on to win the competition. Besides winning the competition, the team impressed judges with their robot and engineering notebook earning the team the Design Award. 78A was also awarded the prestigious Excellence Award for having a competitive robot and being a model team. These awards qualified 78A for the US National Championship as well as the World Championship.

Although 78B/C did not compete at this competition, I am currently working on a plan for all 78 VRC teams to compete at another local competition in mid-January. When I have more information, I will share it with the teams.

Thursday Dec 1, 530-730, B80, Mandatory safety training.

Wednesday, Dec 7, 7-8, B80, Mandatory parent/guardian/volunteer meeting*

Thursday, Dec 8, 7-8, B80, Mandatory parent/guardian/volunteer meeting*

*Attendance at only one of the two meetings is required (not both).

Thursday, Dec 15, 530-730, B2, Regular pre-season meeting.

I am looking for a handful of youth members to join me for a demo at the Westerly jcpenney on Friday Dec 2 around 6pm. If you are interested please let me know. Also, any parents that may want to drive (and do some shopping), please let me know. This will be a great opportunity to develop a partnership with one of our sponsors.

FRC will continue to recruit new members until Dec 15th. If you have any friends who may be interested in joining now is the time to bring them to meetings or get them in contact with me. We will not be accepting new members during build season.

I am excited to tell you all that we have recently secured another Platinum Sponsor for the FRC team. Raytheon IDS will be sponsoring us for the third year in a row. A big thanks to Brad Kulis and all our Raytheon volunteers and supporters who helped make this possible!

-Sponsorships-

We are still looking for additional support for our FRC team. Currently we are on the wait list for the FRC Championship event in St. Louis. If we qualify or get bumped off the wait list, we need to be prepared to pay the registration fee immediately. With that being said, I have attached the sponsorship solicitation brochure again. Please download it, print it, (fold it) and bring it to local businesses you visit, have contacts at, or even work at. Many businesses are very willing to help out local programs. As an added incentive, 25% of the money you raise goes toward your travel fund which alleviates the cost of traveling to regionals and the championship.

-Thursday’s Meeting-

Our meeting this week is on Thursday 11/17 at 530 at Building 2. Here is the agenda:

-River Rage recap
-Award brainstorming
-Icebreaker
-Building 2 cleaning
-Discuss roles and responsibilities
-Begin FRC part inventory
-Make buttons

In order to adhere to the new Navy Base access policy, those who need rides onto the base will meet in the Building 80 parking lot at 515PM. Trusted travelers (government employees) will then escort you onto the base at 530PM. It is very important that you be there on time. We will not make multiple trips and the gate will close at 6PM. At 730PM, you will be escorted to the turnstile at the old gate 11 which is across the street from Building 80. Everyone will be able to exit on foot through the turnstile to return to their vehicles or waiting rides.

So basically, if you don’t have CAC, military ID, or parent/guardian who is a government employee with a CAC you must be at Building 80 to be escorted on. Please plan your departure plans with parents/guardians for 730PM from Building 80.

I have an update on how AIR will handle the new Navy Base access policy. Basically, any youth member who does not have a Navy ID will need to be escorted on base by a government employee (in some cases this may be a parent). Any volunteer or parent that is not a government employee or in the Navy must submit their information to AIR so they can be put on an access list. Volunteers and parents on the access list through AIR will not be able to escort anyone on base (not even their own child). Any volunteer or parent that is a government contractor with valid CAC does not need to submit their information to AIR but they also can’t escort anyone on base. To help clarify this, I have attached a flow chart that Rick made which explains who needs to submit their information to AIR.

The process for submitting your SSN and DOB to AIR will take place in person only. The member will provide the club secretary with the information which will then be stored on an AIR laptop utilizing a trusted platform module hardware based encryption to protect the information. The laptop will not be connected to any networks. When the information is collected, a single copy will be printed and delivered to NAVSTA security in accordance with their policy. Only the club secretary and one other person will have access to the AIR laptop with your information on it. This process will take place at a meeting later this month and/or possibly at upcoming FRC meetings.

-jcpenney-

We have received a $1,000 grant from jcpenney for the FRC team. This money will go directly towards our event registration fees. As part of the grant stipulation, we are partnered with a local jcpenny store and will be interacting on a regular basis with them over the next six months. Our “local” store is the jcpenney in Westerly, RI. I spoke with the manager today and he is very excited to work with us and really wants to meet us. I will be scheduling an afternoon or weekend day soon in which a few of us will go there with last years robot for a demo. One of the benefits of partnering with a jcpenney is that we are able to conduct fundraisers with them. One idea that was discussed was to offer gift wrapping in their store during the holidays in exchange for donations. I will be working with the manager and I hope we can work out the details soon.

-Next Meeting-

Our next meeting is next week, Nov 17th at 530pm at Building 2. I will provide the agenda and details for carpooling onto the base in Mondays email next week.

-Safety Training-

Please remember that we have a safety training meeting at B80 on Dec 1 at 530. Everyone is required to take this training.

-Parent/Volunteer Mandatory Meeting

With so much happening so quick come January it is very important that all parents and volunteers are on the same page. We will have a mandatory parent/volunteer meeting to discuss team expectations, build season schedule, team travel, and a few other things. More details will be available prior to the meeting. Because it is so important that everyone can come, I am giving significant notice and have scheduled 2 days for this meeting:

Wednesday, December 7, 7-8pm, Building 80 Thursday, December 8, 7-8pm, Buildin 80

All parents and volunteers must attend ONE of the two meetings. Just remember “7 or 8, 7 to 8.”

- Access Road, Building 80, UCTOC, NUWC Naval Base Newport, RI 02841

- http://air4h.org/meetings/Building80.png

- FLL REGISTRATION:  12:00 PM – 2:00 PM, September 10, 2011

- FRC REGISTRATION:  9:00 AM – 11:00 AM, September 17, 2011

Dues for the 2011-2012 season are $70.00 per youth member and $25.00 per adult volunteer.  Please be sure to bring payments to the registration.  Payments can only be received in the form of cash or check.

Please note, space for all programs is limited, and in order to register, parents and youths must be present to sign forms on the respective day.  If you cannot make it, please contact the coordinator for the program of which you are interested in to make arrangements.

For details about our fall and winter programs please see below:

FIRST Lego League (FLL)

———————–

- For students entering grades 5 through 7 (regardless of age)

- Season: September through early January (Start Date: Week of 9-19-11)

- Maximum student members: 60

- Coordinator: Paige Pennypacker

- Email: paige@air4h.org

More information on the game, and FLL can be found here:

http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)

——————————

- For students entering grades 8 through 12 (regardless of age)

- Season: January through May

- Weekly Meetings: TDB

- Maximum student members: N/A

- Acting Coordinator: Tom Dolan

- Email: dolan@air4h.org

More information on the game and FRC can be found here:

http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc

The robot must play the 2011 FRC game, LOGO MOTION™.  The game is played by two competing alliances on a flat 27’ x 54’ foot field.  Each alliance consists of three robots.  They compete to hang as many inflated plastic shapes (triangles, circles, and squares) on their grids as they can during a 2 minute and 15 second match.  The higher the teams hang their game pieces on their scoring grid, the more points their alliance receives.

The match begins with one 15-second Autonomous Period in which robots operate independently of driver inputs and must hang Ubertubes to score extra points.  For the rest of the match, drivers control robots and try to maximize their alliance score by hanging as many logo pieces as possible.  Any logo piece hung on the same peg as an Ubertube receives double points.  If teams assemble the logo pieces on their scoring grids to form the FIRST® logo (triangle, circle, square, in a horizontal row in that order), the points for the entire row are doubled.

The match ends with robots deploying minibots, small electro-mechanical assemblies that are independent of the host robot, onto vertical poles.  The minibots race to the top of the pole to trigger a sensor and earn additional bonus points.

AIR Strike 78 would not be possible without the support of our generous sponsors.  Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), Raytheon, BAE Systems, and JCPenney all support the team by donating funds, tools, and technology professionals.

Contact:

Joseph Menassa, Assistant Club Leader

Aquidneck Island Robotics 4‐H Club

jmenassa@air4h.org

401‐447-3150

http://www.air4h.org